Thursday, May 4, 2017

The Notorious 20 House GOP Who Voted Against AHCA

Andy Biggs (Arizona) – Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona felt that the
American Health Care Act does not go far enough in repealing Obamacare.
“I have opposed the AHCA from the very beginning because it is not a clean
repeal of Obamacare,” he said in a statement. “While I applaud
all the hard work of the House Freedom Caucus, which has made every effort
in recent weeks to improve this legislation, the final bill unfortunately
does not meet the promises I made to my constituents.”

OK. It's not perfect. Neither was the reconciliation bill from 2015.

Biggs is one of the Freedom Caucus members, I believe. He wanted something better than nothing. His steps are pretty well-known, and Republicans in Arizona have had to deal with a diverse and undermining coalition of liberal-leaning Republicans who combine with Democrats to get more moderate-liberal leaning speakers in the past.

There's always more work to be done, though, no doubt.

Mike Coffman (Colorado) – Congressman Coffman said he opposed the bill
because it does not do enough to protect those with pre-existing
conditions. “I worry that, under the current language, a small percentage
of those with preexisting conditions may not be adequately
protected,” he said in a statement. “If House
Leadership will work to tighten protections for those with preexisting
conditions, I’m a yes on sending this bill to the Senate for further
consideration. If not, I’m a no, and we’ll go back to the drawing
board to clean up the mess created
by the Affordable Care Act.” Clearly, he did not feel the House
ended up doing enough to protect people with pre-existing conditions.

Coffman is in a swing district in Colorado, where the Democratic registration exceeds Republican registration by about two-three points. Rocky Mountain Republicans need to work harder and get their act together. Colorado was a reliable Republican strong holder until eight years ago. Get it together!

Barbara Comstock (Virginia) – Congresswoman Barbara Comstock of Virginia says
that Obamacare is in a death spiral, but she’s not convinced that the
American Health Care Act will actually lower costs. “While this bill
addressed important principles like covering pre-existing conditions and
not having lifetime limits imposed on the sick, and reducing costs and
increasing choices for many working families, the uncertainties in the
current version of the bill caused me not to be able to support it today,” she said in a statement.

She's in a swing district, too, actually, and she is still getting targeted.

Ryan A. Costello (Pennsylvania) – Congressman Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania said
that the AHCA doesn’t do enough to protect people with pre-existing
conditions. “Protections for those with pre-existing conditions without
contingency and affordable access to coverage for every American remain my
priorities for advancing healthcare reform, and this bill does not satisfy
those benchmarks for me,” he said in a statement. “I do believe
substantial reforms need to be made to our healthcare system. I will
review any future modifications or legislation with these principles in
mind, but I remain a no vote on this bill in its current form.”

Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania) – Congressman Charlie Deny of Pennsylvania
said that the AHCA will leave too many people
uninsured. “Too many people are going to be losing coverage,” he told CNN. “…Those are my underlying
concerns. The new revised version does not address those concerns and
that’s why I’m opposed to the bill.”

Dan Donovan(New York) – Congressman Dan Donovan
of New York was not a fan of the fact that the bill exempts New York
State counties from contributing to the state’s Medicaid coffers but does
not include New York City in that exemption. “The provision excludes New
York City, putting an unfair and disproportionate burden on City residents
to cover the state’s exorbitant Medicaid expenses,” he said in a statement. “We need
healthcare reform – including promised Medicaid reform in New York where
we spend more than Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania combined – but it
shouldn’t be done on the backs of already overburdened City residents who
will undoubtedly have a tax increase forced on them to pay for this
eminently unfair policy.”

I am scratching my head as I look at this.

1. He represents a part of New York City. That's a miracal in itself.

2. He wants to make nice with liberal New Yorkers. UGH!

Brian Fitzpatrick
(Pennsylvania) – Congressman Fitzpatrick
of Pennsylvania said that the bill does not adequately address the opioid
epidemic. “I have many concerns with this bill, and first among them is
the impact on the single most important issue plaguing Bucks and
Montgomery Counties, and the issue that I have made my priority in
Congress: opioid abuse prevention, treatment and recovery,” he said in a statement.

Jaime Herrera
Beutler (Washington) –
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington said that the bill
does not provide an adequate safety net for kids who depend on
Medicaid. “While I appreciate this week’s effort by Speaker Ryan and his
leadership team to better protect older Americans from health care cost
increases, the difficulties this bill would create for millions of
children were left unaddressed,” she said in a statement. “I’m disappointed
that it appears my amendment to strengthen the Medicaid safety net for the
kids who depend on it for their health care will not be considered.
Protecting vulnerable children is a core purpose of the Medicaid program
and when the program fails to do so, it fails entirely. I will not vote to
let those kids fall through the cracks.”

"It's about the children!" No, it's about holding onto his house seat. Washingotn State is not a red state. YET.

Will Hurd (Texas) – Congressman Hurd said in a statement,
“Since the implementation of Obamacare, I’ve told my constituents that the
only meaningful metric when it comes to healthcare is actual access to
quality, affordable care – not just health insurance. While the goal of Obamacare
was to make healthcare more accessible and more affordable, it has done
just the opposite. Likewise, while the goal of the American Health
Care Act was to combat the skyrocketing premiums and outrageous
deductibles millions of Americans face, it too, falls short.”

But why, Will, why?

Walter B. Jones (North
Carolina) – Congressman Walter
Jones of North Carolina said that the bill was rushed and highly flawed,
and he added that he has heard loud and clear from his constituents that
they don’t like it. “It’s time to scrap this flawed bill and start over,” he said in a statement. “Go out across the
country, gather people’s input, and use an open, public process to
thoughtfully craft a bill that delivers the relief the American people
need.”

Do the right thing, no matter how many constituents scream of yell.

David Joyce (Ohio) – Congressman Joyce said, “I’m eager to
support legislation that doesn’t reduce funding in the Medicare trust fund
and actually helps lower healthcare costs for the more than 465,000 people
in my district who obtain their health insurance via their employer. Those
individuals, who make up 65 percent of the district, have seen nothing but
higher premiums, higher deductibles, and higher co-pays. We need to find
solutions to help them and their families. The middle class cannot keep
bearing the brunt of everything.”

Obamacare already reduced Medicare funding. Do we reallly want to hold onto what is already holding on for dear life? At all?!

John Katko (New York) – Congressman John Katko said that he felt
the AHCA penalizes states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. He
also said he was not convinced it will lower costs. “I’m not going to
vote for a bill where I don’t know what it looks like until it’s done,” he
said, according to Syracuse.com.

Very liberal Republica. Nuff said.

Leonard Lance (New Jersey) – Congressman Leonard Lance of New Jersey
said that the AHCA will not lower costs. “I do not think that it lowers
premiums, and I do not think that it covers enough people,” he told NPR. “And I read the CBO report,
and I think that we have to move forward in a more bipartisan capacity.
For example, I would like to see legislation passed that says we can
purchase policy across state lines. That of course will require support
from Democratic colleagues. And I challenge Democratic colleagues to come
to the table and help repair the ACA.”

Katko.

Frank A. LoBiondo (New Jersey) – Congressman LoBiondo of New Jersey said that
his constituents who rely on Medicare would be harmed under the AHCA.
“Under the current proposal, many South Jersey residents would be left
with financial hardship or without the coverage they now receive,” he said in a statement. “Our seniors on
Medicare already struggle to make each dollar stretch. Three South Jersey
counties have more than 30 percent of their residents receiving Medicaid
assistance. Medical professionals – our hospitals, doctors, nurses – are
opposed.”

See Katko.

Thomas Massie (Kentucky) – Congressman Massie of Kentucky was very much
opposed to the American Health Care Act to the point that he actually said
in an interview that it’s worse than Obamacare. According to Politico, he said that the
bill relies on “replacing mandates, subsidies and penalties with mandates,
subsidies and penalties.” In late March, he jokingly tweeted that he was
changing his vote from “No” to “Hell No.”

Patrick Meehan (Pennsylvania) – Congressman Meehan of Pennsylvania said in a statement that the AHCA
“threatens to send premiums skyrocketing for people with pre-existing
conditions,” adding that it will “make coverage more expensive for for
older Americans as they near retirement.”

What is it with Pennsylvania? Three of the PA delegation rejected the latest AHCA interation. Hmm...

Dave Reichert
(Washington) – Congressman
Reichert just recently announced that he would be voting against the AHCA.
“This bill although a good attempt falls short,” he told a reporter on Thursday.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida) – Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement, “I will not support a
bill that has the potential to severely harm the health and lives of
people in South Florida and therefore I remain steadfast in my commitment
to vote NO on the AHCA. The recent addition of further funds to high risk
pools continues to be inadequate and fails to cover those who need it
most. If enacted, the older and poorer South Floridians will be worse off
and will find it more difficult to obtain quality healthcare. My
constituents should not have to take a step backward in their ability to
obtain treatment for any illness and thus, I will vote NO.”

She's worried about the senior citizens rising up against her, especially the liberal ones from New England who migrate and retire in the Sunshine State.

Christopher H. Smith (New
Jersey) – Congressman Smith said
that he opposed the bill because of its cuts to Medicaid. “The overriding
concern I have is the Medicaid expansion being significantly altered,” Smith told the Asbury Park Press. “It
affects so many of our disabled individuals and families, and the working
poor.”

Katko Part III.

Michael R. Turner (Ohio) – Congressman Turner of Ohio simply said in a
statement that the AHCA would cause many of his constituents to lose
coverage. “After numerous discussions with the White House and the
Speaker’s office, in an attempt to improve this bill, including
discussions today, I could not support the bill in its current form,” he said in a statement. “This legislation
will result in people in my community losing health care coverage. Therefore,
I could not support it.”